Business & Finance: FAMILY PLANE

This little brother of a P-38 fighter is the type of plane in which U.S. civilians will want to fly their families around in the postwar air. So, at least, Popular Science Monthly decided last week after scanning 3,345 light-plane designs in its postwar-plane contest. This winning design (prize: $1,000 war bond) was drafted by Donald J. Wheeler of Seattle, Boeing Aircraft Co. engineer. Wheeler expects private plane buyers will want a four-passenger ship with a speed of at least 130 m.p.h., a range of 500 miles, priced from $1,500 to $3,500. Two surprising facts: designers, in the main, feel the public will not want 1) a flivver plane selling for $1,000 or less, if speed and comfort are sacrificed, 2) a helicopter.